@theturner Hi Chris, vouchers can only be transferred to another family member before travel if they have the same family name. /ccAir Canada

@theturner Hi Chris, this is to prevent fraudulent activity while using vouchers. /ccAir Canada

So I'll have to charge this flight, carry cost, reimburse later. Can I expense the interest to @aircanada's Dept of 1950s Preservation?Chris Turner

@theturner Hi Chris, full details of the procedure can be found right here: http://t.co/OojgXxB77a. /ccAir Canada

@AirCanada Noted. You can see how this institutionalizes a lower quality of service to women who kept their maiden names, though, yes?Chris Turner

What's at issue here with @aircanada is that if @hilksom had changed her last name, I could've redeemed the voucher when I booked.Chris Turner

@AirCanada @theturner Sooooo... Turner can transfer the voucher to our NEIGHBOUR Kelly who has the same last name, but not his WIFE. Gotcha.Hilksom

Turner enjoys more than 5,000 followers on Twitter, and that combined with @aircanada's 158,000 followers meant that many, many others piled onto the account and whoever was unfortunate enough to be managing it at the time.

Is @AirCanada somehow unaware that for the last 30+ years, Quebec hasn't allowed anyone to change their name when they get married?Joshυα̂ Dυnfield

@SnowHydro @AirCanada @theturner This happens to husbands with husbands too.AndrewWoodrowButcher

@dixitque @AirCanada @theturner Yes. Or wives with wives.Sarah Boon

Turner made sure to mention several times that the representative who explained the policy to him on the phone was courteous and knowledgeable, and had encountered questions and complaints about this particular rule before.

He later clarified that Air Canada would reimburse him for Bristowe's ticket, but not before the flight - meaning Turner still has to pay for the ticket first.

1) To be extra doubleplus clear: @aircanada will let me transfer a voucher to my wife's ticket. Just not before travel. So I carry the cost.Chris Turner

2) My direct interactions with @aircanada (including its Twitter feed) have been admirably cordial and sympathetic. Good job, all!Chris Turner

3) It's more absurd than outrageous that some weird glitch has persisted in @aircanada's system such that surnames are the guard vs. fraud.Chris Turner

4) If @aircanada's service rep hadn't been so wearily familiar with the glitch I was encountering, I probably wouldn't have made it public.Chris Turner

5) The lesson for @aircanada and beyond seems to be that reiterating a lousy policy is not an effective social media strategy.Chris Turner

6) The lesson for @aircanada specifically might be that there's a pretty dangerous amount of pent-up hostility toward the company out there.Chris Turner

Canadian competitor WestJet also swooped into the conversation, noting that they allow people to transfer ticket vouchers or credits to anyone of the owner's choosing. It won them a healthy amount of positive feedback - often in the same tweet as those admonishing Air Canada.

@YuEuG Credits with us are transferable to anyone of your choosing. You can make the booking for them or transfer the $ their account.WestJet

@Jalopnik @AirCanada @WestJet there is a reason Westjet is best.Keith Putz

Will just co-sign the message you're getting about your idiotic same-name policy, @aircanada. West Jet looking pretty good suddenly.Edward Keenan

Have you had similar ticket voucher problems as Chris Turner and Ashley Bristowe? How do you think Air Canada managed the situation on Twitter?

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